CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: Good evening from Clayton, Missouri. I am Chris Hayes with a special live edition of ALL IN WITH CHRIS HAYES here.

I`m standing in front of the Justice Center, Clayton, Missouri, is the county seat for St. Louis County. That`s the county that surrounds the city of St. Louis, and it is in county in North County, about 10 miles from here in Ferguson Missouri where on August 9th, an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer named Darren Wilson.

We are awaiting an announcement in the next hour of whether Darren Wilson will be indicted. It is a culmination of a long process in which a grand jury has been hearing evidence now for several months. That grand jury has been listening evidence from the office of Bob McCulloch. He is the St. Louis County prosecutor, a very polarizing, controversial figure -- a man that many people wanted removed from the case early on, a man with very deep ties to law enforcement community, including a father who was killed in the line of duty as a police officer. He has overseen this long process and now, it all comes down to this announcement tonight expected in the next hour in which we believe St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch himself will be announcing what, if any, indictment or charges this grand jury has found in the killing of Darren Wilson.

Joining me at my side, Trymaine Lee of MSNBC.com, who`s been reporting on and off for months now.

You`ve been down here for a few months already. What has the atmosphere been like here in the days leading to this announcement?

TRYMAINE LEE, MSNBC.COM: I mean, of course, leading up to this moment, people have been waiting for this for a long time. There`s a mix of tension and anxiety, some fear and still, anger.

Now, I spoke to one protester earlier who said, you know, earlier, when it first happened, we were angry, now, we`re organized and angry. And so, while you may our may not see that kind of spontaneous anger that we saw in those early days in August, demonstrators plan to come out. They still plan on taking the streets and that it`s waiting for this moment.

But it`s kind of tightly wound and everyone is so anxious and is ready for this announcement.

HAYES: Yes, we should say that everything that has happened over the course of the last several months has essentially had the effect of heightening the tension because there has been such anticipation, because people have seen a series of leaks from the grand jury. That people are constantly trying to read the tea leaves. Does this mean that he`s not going to be indicted or he is going to be indicted?

People have seen a declaration of the state of emergency in advance of the event. Again, a highly anomalous choice by Governor Jay Nixon.

How has that affected anticipation that folks have both on the protesters side, residents, law enforcement officials here?

LEE: Well, first of all, every one is kind of fearing the worst here. And so, protesters who are veterans of those early days fear that the police will once again respond with these kind of heavy-handed tactics. The police are also fearful that, you know, if things get out of control, will someone get hurt? Will property be damaged? And, you know, will residents feel the pain?

But also, each step along the way, as you`ve mentioned, there have been leaks. There has been recent revelation that there had been this promise that if Darren Wilson is not indicted, that all the evidence will be released. And then pulling back saying a judge didn`t agree to that deal. All of this has added to this mistrust already in the system. So, here we are on the verge of this moment, and, still, everything is up in the air.

MADDOW: An update on that. I believe we have word that the prosecutor`s office has announced that they will, in fact, be releasing some of the files from the grand jury proceedings if, in fact, he`s not indicted, despite the fact that a judge had balked initially at that. They withdrew that order. They`re now making the unilateral decision. Again, everyone right now trying to read the tea live e leaves, trying to figure out what`s going to happen.

You can feel the tension. You know, the tension in August was thick and palpable. It was hot. People were out in the streets. It was raw emotionally. Here, you can feel the people. Everyone is on edge. There has been I think comings in some senses from officials, the kind of subliminal, sometimes contextual, and sometimes just straight up open language to suggest that they are fearing violence, disorder, property damage.

It seems useful to remind people that what we saw back in August was the scale of property damage back in August was roughly on par with the riots in San Francisco after the Giants won the World Series. I think probably less property damage that we saw in Keene, New Hampshire, at the pumpkin fest in Keene, New Hampshire. So people should be keeping all of that I think in perspective.

LEE: Yes, especially when there`s the perception that the entire city was burned to the ground, when you had establishment, the QuikTrip, and no one is condoning that kind of property damage. But it was one story.

We never saw that mass of 500, 600 people turning on police or turning on property. We simply didn`t see it. And we did some looting. The police had a hands-off approach and kind of letting it happen.

So, I think the narrative is kind of unfurled in a certain way, but the reality is different.

HAYES: And what has the dynamic been? There have been protesters. We`re seeing now the protesters are already gathering in the Ferguson Police Department, which has become the site of most of the intense protests in the months since August, right? What have those interactions been like since police and protesters?

LEE: The last few days, as we`ve seen again, as this tension is kind of bubbling over, you`ve seen arrests. You`ve seen what some believed is a return of some, more aggressive tactics by police where at least one young journalist they say was arrested for standing on the sidewalk and refused to move. And so, if this sign of the things that come, it has spun completely out of control. But it seems that there has been a stepped up aggression in that situation at the police department.

HAYES: I want to bring in Ari Melber, who`s been closely following the legal dimensions here.

And, Ari, I was just saying on HARDBALL, that, you know, that there is a strangeness to this whole thing, a surreality of the fact that we are anticipating the announcement of a grand jury finding. It`s strange. It`s not usually where one finds one`s self as a reporter. Of course, verdicts get a lot of attention. But this is a grand jury proceeding.

Walk us through what is a process that`s led up to this and what are the possible things that we might hear tonight?

ARI MELBER, THE CYCLE: Sure. As you`ve been reporting and emphasizing, Chris, this is just basically, in plain language, a determine nation by these jurors with vote of nine or more out of 12 over whether there`s evidence that suggests probable cause. And in plain English, that means whether this evidence suggests a crime probably occurred. Not definitely. Nowhere near beyond a reasonable doubt, but probably with enough suspicion there that it should be pursued within the rest of the system and go to a full trial.

When you talk about the charges that could be there, because this is about a killing, it breaks into two, murder or manslaughter. And then you get into degrees that people remember from "Law & Order". First-degree murder, which doesn`t apply in any way here because you don`t have the kind of premeditation or planning that`s associated with that. Although, in some unusual ways, the prosecutor said he`ll put all charges including first degree before this grand jury. Second-degree murder, which would be an intentional killing or happening in basically with passion in some way. And then manslaughter would be voluntary, an intentional manslaughter or involuntary, which we often think of in terms of mistakes, like vehicular involuntary manslaughter. You`re driving, you caused the death of another, but in no way did you intend to.

Much less common do you see that kind of charge when it`s related to a firearm death or particularly the official use of a firearm here by an individual who, whether he had justification or not, was probably not shooting without regard to whether it would cause injury. So, those are the basic charges. And then, in the process, to the second part of your question, if you get an announcement of any kind of indictment tonight, all that would mean is that then, the full trial process would begin. That`s a long process that is more adversarial than a grand jury and would proceed to if it wasn`t thrown out of court, some kind of trial before a jury of your peers. That would be a full jury that would decide whether there was guilt or not guilty verdict further down the road.

HAYES: If a grand jury were to return no indictments tonight, obviously we have a system that bars doesn`t jeopardy. If you`re acquitted of a charge, you cannot be retried on that charge. Does it mean the end, essentially, of any criminal proceedings for Officer Darren Wilson if in 45 minutes, we hear Bob McCulloch announce grand jury has found no indictment?

MELBER: No, as a legal matter, it does not bar the possible filing of, for example, a separate criminal charge, which prosecutors can do when they think they have probable cause anyway. Or, potentially, and we`re not saying that this would happen, but to your question of, does it bar anything the way the actual verdict would? You could always empanel another grand jury to hear evidence that would only typically be done if some new evidence came to light or some other, what lawyers would call malfeasance. Some other improper conduct came to light that made you want to do it over before a grand jury.

As a practical matter though, the reason why everyone is so focused tonight where you are and where you`re reporting from, Chris and Trymaine, is obviously this is seen as the be-all, end-all with what this particular prosecutor wants to do. So, while there could be a civil suit from the family, be federal charge separately. People rightly perceive this as the probable end of the line for this prosecutor`s case here.

HAYES: Ari Melber, thank you very much. Stay with us. We`ll be checking back with you.

You`re seeing some protesters start to assemble in Ferguson, around the Ferguson Police Department.

We should know the family of Mike Brown has issued a statement asking for a moment of silence 4 1/2 minutes of silence after the announcement of the decision by the grand jury. That 4 1/2 minutes has the significance of 4 1/2 hours being the amount of time that Michael Brown`s body laid in the street in Canfield Drive in Ferguson after he was shot and killed by Darren Wilson.

Joining me now is the county executive for St. Louis County, Charlie Dooley.

Mr. Dooley, good to have you here.

CHARLIE DOOLEY, COUNTY EXECUTIVE, ST. LOUIS COUNTY: Thank you, Chris.

HAYES: What is the message that you`re sending that are to folks around the world are looking at St. Louis County tonight?

DOOLEY: We want to send a message that we want justice to be served. But even more importantly, whatever the decision is, to be calm, step back, take a breath and hope things will work out. This is a peaceful community. People have got opportunities to come together. We have our challenges like any other community.

But this is not the time for emotions running rampant. Let`s stop. Let`s not destroy anything. As the Michael Brown family indicted, they want peace. That`s the main thing, peace.

HAYES: Now, I heard your press conference earlier. You were at that press conference earlier. I`ve heard people, officials, talk about the words calm and peaceful as if they`re synonyms, right? It strikes me that protesters are -- if, in fact, there`s no indictment, we do not know what the announcement is going to be. But it`s possible they will be angry, that they will be yelling. That it`s possible that protesters can conduct themselves in a peaceful way that isn`t necessarily calm.

DOOLEY: That is true. And I agree with you a hundred percent.

HAYES: Right, the First Amendment protection as well.

DOOLEY: Yes, that is true. Constitutionally, they can holler, they can scream, they can talk. We`re talking about is unlawful acts. That cannot be tolerated. But again, we don`t want to stop protesters from protesting peacefully.

HAYES: How important is it to you and to Mayor Slay and to the governor, how much do you see it as your job as protecting those First Amendment rights for folks that may want to protest this evening?

DOOLEY: Again, America is a country of freedoms. One of the freedoms that we enjoy in this country is the right to disagree. I`m going to protect that as best we can, as long as they abide by the law. Now, again, if that means someone is speaking or talking or walking, as long as they don`t do something serious, bodily harm to someone, we`re not here to stop the protests. We`re here to protect the protesters.

HAYES: You`re -- you`re a long time member of this community. You`ve seen a lot. What is your feeling? What do you want to see from this grand jury?

DOOLEY: Well, what I want to see, everybody in this community wants to see what is right is done. I`m not privy to the information. So I can`t make that judgment call, OK?

But, again, people want justice in America. Let me be clear about this. In this great country, African-American, young males have a challenge in this country.

Now, some people don`t understand that. Some people ignore it. But it is a fact of life. Where do we put the price of life in this country?

And I think that`s ultimately, that`s going to be the question to this entire country. What do we put the price on life to young African-Americans and people of color in this country?

HAYES: Do you think that Governor Nixon has gotten the tone right, has taken the proper actions that are both prudent and non-provocative in a run-up to this, that the very unusual step of announcing the state of emergency and so forth?

DOOLEY: Again, I don`t have all of the particulars. Some of the things he may have done, I may not have done those things.

HAYES: For instance?

DOOLEY: For instance, if I want to have the National Guard, I might not have announced it, but just done it.

What I`m saying to you is this. I don`t want to heighten people`s fears because they are afraid.

HAYES: Right.

Yes, the fear is palpable. Protesters are scared that police will escalate and we saw some really sort of ugly militarization of police and tactics there. Police are probably scared they will e there will be violence. Officials are probably scared, property owners, and citizens, et cetera.

You`re one person who`s been saying from the beginning you`re expecting peace. Do you think that message has gotten out to metro St. Louis? Because as soon as you get off the plane here, people are acting like they`re going to see something truly terrible happen tonight.

DOOLEY: I think the majority of the people believe, for the most part, there will be peace. Now, you can`t guarantee 100 percent of people coming to this area come with the same intent. So, again, the vast majority of the protesters, the vast majority of the people who live in this community believe it`s going to be calm. That doesn`t mean it will be 100 percent calm. That doesn`t mean that what I call peace is not peace.

What I`m saying is that, my hope is that no one is hurt, no one`s life is taken, and that`s the thing we need to stress that has not been stressed. No one has been seriously hurt and no one life had been taken doing this protest.

HAYES: County Executive Charlie Dooley, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

DOOLEY: Thank you, Chris.

HAYES: I want to bring in State Senator Jamilah Nasheed.

Senator, back here in August, you were one of the leading voices for the Governor Nixon using his state of emergency powers at a time to appoint a special prosecutor to replace Bob McCulloch. It got to the point at one point, you deliver petitions. McCulloch himself even said if the governor were to appoint a special prosecutor, I would respect that and step aside.

That did not happen. It has Bob McCulloch`s office that has presented evidence to the grand jury, sitting here awaiting an announcement from Bob McCulloch about that grand jury.

Were your suspicions or fears confirmed? Or were you pleasantly surprised?

STATE SEN. JAMILAH NASHEED (D), MISSOURI: Well, I would not be surprised nor would I be shocked by the outcome of a non-guilty verdict. The day that the statutes are structured here in the state of Missouri, they`re way too vague.

So, what I`m looking to do moving forward within the next couple of months is craft a piece of legislation that tightens the language of lethal force when it comes to police-involved shootings.

HAYES: It`s interesting you bring that up. It sounds to me like you are already anticipating that the grand jury will return no indictment tonight. Is that correct?

NASHEED: Well, again, I am not optimistic.

HAYES: Aside from legislation, Senator, about the use of lethal force, if that is the case, what do you tell your constituents, what you tell protesters? What do you tell moms and dads, and men and women, and girls and boys, who live in metro St. Louis, who live in North County, who live in Ferguson, what do you tell them about what lessons to learn, what they should do next, what the next step is to move forward if your fears that there will be no indictment are realized in just about 40 minutes?

NASHEED: Well, within the last four months, the city of St. Louis, we`ve gone through a very strenuous process in terms of anxiety levels. What I would say to the protesters tonight, it`s OK to protest. It`s OK to be angry. But it`s not OK to damage property. It`s not OK to burn down businesses.

I think now is the time to begin the healing process. This will define the city of St. Louis or the state of Missouri. Moving forward is what will define St. Louis in terms of how we change the problems that`s plaguing African American communities, as well as those that are impoverished, the systemic problems that they see each and every day that you have young men that are coming out of prisons and they cannot find jobs.

We`re going to have to begin to deal with those issues. We`re going to have to begin to deal with the issues of young folks going out looking for jobs and they can only find minimum wage jobs and the mothers having to leave their children at home alone because they cannot afford child`s care.

So, we have very systematic changes that needs to be made, and systemic problems that exist in this city that we`re going to have to deal with. And until we deal with those issues, only then will we see progress for the city moving forward.

HAYES: Senator Jamilah Nasheed, thank you very much.

NASHEED: Thank you.

HAYES: You`re watching special live coverage right now. I`m Chris Hayes, live here in Clayton, Missouri, the county seat for St. Louis County is in the building behind me at the justice center where in just a little bit, Bob McCulloch, the county prosecutor for St. Louis, will be announcing the findings of the grand injury that has been hearing evidence of the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson.

We`re looking at live footage outside the Ferguson Police Department in Ferguson, Missouri. That has become a rallying point for protesters in the months since the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on August 9th. You`re seeing people begin to assemble. You`re seeing them do the "hands up, don`t shoot" chant which was immortalized back in August during that first round of protests.

Reference to several eye witnesses, more, several at least four or five I believe who said they saw Michael Brown making the widely recognized sign of surrender and putting his hands on the air, just instance before he was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson.

We are awaiting an announced from the St. Louis County prosecutor`s office in just a little bit. We are here tonight and it is a strange feel in the air right now here because there is so much anticipation. As we said earlier, Governor Nixon has already declared a state of emergency.

And we have with us now Mayor Slay of St. Louis.

Mayor, what is your mindset right now?

MAYOR FRANCIS SLAY, ST. LOUIS, MO: Well, like many other people, I`m just sitting and anticipating, and anxious about a decision from the grand jury in St. Louis County.

I can tell you that, you know, whatever the decision is, I do expect that a whole lot of St. Louisans and others will be loudly and passionately expressing their views.

And we`re going to have some of the best police officers in the entire country protecting the protesters and their rights to speak, their constitutional rights, and to protect their constitutional rights, and also making sure that others and their property are safe so that everybody can go home safe. That`s what I`m certainly hoping for.

HAYES: Do you think that residents of your city, residents of St. Louis County and the surrounding metro area, have an active understanding of just how likely some sort of large scale disruption violence are? Because it feels to me that perhaps folks here think the chances of something truly terrible happening in terms of widespread damage destruction, lawlessness, et cetera, is perhaps larger than it actually is.

SLAY: Well, you know, that`s something that I guess, certainly, a lot of people have their own perspective and views. And certainly, you know, there`s a high level of anger and a high level of anticipation and a high level of frustration, and certainly a high -- a high level of anxiety from a lot of people who are wondering what`s going to happen, what the decisions are going to be.

I can tell you this that there`s it covers a broad spectrum. So, you really can`t characterize it in one category. I can tell you this, that over the last several weeks, we have been working very, very hard to communicate in many, many ways so the people of St. Louis and throughout the country, that what we`re going to do as we approach is this we make sure that we protect people`s rights to express themselves from a constitutional basis.

Also, make sure that we protect people and property. And we`re also going to make sure that we don`t just have --and I think this is in an important component, we don`t just have a law enforcement response to what happens and what the decision is. We need to make sure that we continue our efforts in even a stronger way to show the world how we can come together as a community.

How we can heal. How we can address those deep-seeded issues, pretty much revolving around race, racial disparities, inequities, that Senator Nasheed was talking about what just a minutes ago, because until and unless we do that in a very, very effective way, we will not be responding appropriately to this tragedy that occurred. We need to make sure that the shooting of Michael Brown, whatever the decision is of this grand jury, we want to make sure that something good comes out of it. Not just for St. Louis, but for our entire nation.

HAYES: Mayor, what`s the one biggest thing you`ve learned in the intervening time since Michael Brown`s death and the protest?

SLAY: Well, the biggest thing that we`ve learned is that what you can`t do is you can`t paint protesters, you can`t paint police, you can`t paint elected officials with one broad brush. That there`s a lot of differing views out there, a lot of people have their own motivations. And the other thing is that everybody looks at the same set of facts, the same situation, from behind different glasses. And just because somebody looks at something differently than I do or if you look at something differently with somebody else, doesn`t mean that you`re right or they`re wrong or I`m right or they`re wrong.

It means that we`ve got a community of a lot of different ideas, of a lot of different perspectives. And we need to come together and realize that that we`re all in this together. We need to talk. We need to communicate. We need to work together. We need common ground and we need to find ways to address these real deep-seeded issues and make our region a more just and more fair place for everybody.

HAYES: Finally, Mayor Slay, do you know what decision the grand jury has reached?

HAYES: All right. We are announcement just shortly in the grand jury finding of Officer Darren Wilson`s shooting death of Michael Brown. We will be right back. Don`t go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAYES: All right. We are live in Clayton, Missouri, the county seat of St. Louis County, where in just a little bit, moments in fact, we will be anticipating an announcement from Bob McCulloch, the county prosecutor, on the findings of the grand jury and whether there will be indictment on any criminal charges against Officer Darren Wilson. He, of course, the Ferguson police officer who shot and killed, Michael Brown, on August 9th in Ferguson.

Joining me now, John Gaskin, he`s on national board of NAACP, and Rasheen Aldridge, Jr. Rasheen has just joined the Ferguson committee which has been empanelled by the governor to discuss what`s next for Ferguson.

Rasheen, let me start with you. You`ve been a protester. You`ve been outspoken in the community back in the August protest. You`ve now joined this committee put together by the governor.

What -- how are you feeling tonight and what are you anticipating? What are you expecting?

RASHEEN ALDRIDGE, JR., DIR., YOUNG ACTIVIST UNITED ST. LOUIS: I`m just like everyone else here in the community. Awaiting, you know, we`re on pins and needles awaiting the decision of if there will be indictment of Darren Wilson or if there`s no indictment. Just ticking and tocking.

HAYES: Do you anticipate protest actions in the nights, days to follow if there is no indictment? What do you foresee as what that reaction would be like?

ALDRIDGE: I mean, I think there is an indictment, if there`s not indictment, the young people have been here for 108 days. We`re going to continue to protest either way because this is, the indictment of Darren Wilson and no indictment of Darren Wilson is just a start of long term that`s going to continue to go on because the system has to change. The reason that we`re here is because of Mike Brown, but there`s so much tied deeper as the system that`s holding people back, holding communities back from starting at the same place of other people.

HAYES: John, what do you see as the lessons have been so far? Has the process in a way it`s played, has it given you more or less confidence that the institutions of governance here are responsive? Are aware of exactly the underlying issues that have brought us to this moment?

JOHN GASKIN III, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: My confidence in the justice system is at an all-time low tonight. You`ve had many groups, many protesters that have called for a special prosecutor, the governor fell asleep at the wheel when he had an opportunity to step up to the mantle of leadership and appoint a special prosecutor. He ignored those calls.

And now, all of the sudden, he comes to ground zero to participate in what I would view as simple political dialogue to further his political aspirations.

You know, confidence is at an all-time low. We`ve seen this thing play out. Many of your legal analysts on your network has said, the prosecutor controls this narrative in terms of the grand jury situation. He -- if there is no indictment, it`s simply because prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch does not want there to be one, plain and simple.

HAYES: John, would your confidence be restored if there some kind of criminal indictment return tonight? Would that sort of retroactively change the way that you feel about Bob McCulloch, about the governor, about the sort of structures of government here?

GASKIN: I don`t know if it would change my confidence. However, it would send a message that people within this community on that grand jury sit, saw and see that there`s something wrong, that something took place, this should not have happened on Canfield drive back in August. I don`t know how much confidence that would put in the criminal justice system, but still, a trial has to take place.

And the prosecutor would have to, obviously, prosecute this case. And quite honestly, what we`ve seen thus far, he`s completely not the person that should be taking care of this right now.

HAYES: Rasheen, you are on this new panel that has been empanelled by the governor? What do hope that comes out of it, what do you see to people that say this is a political stump by the governor to basically, you know, release some pressure and district people from the issues?

ALDRIDGE: Well, being on this commission, I`m not quite sure what`s going to come out of it. I also feel like that if he really wanted to get some type of change or if he really wanted to hear the voices of the people, there would definitely be more young folks on this commission. Let`s speak, once again, 108 days young people have been out here peacefully protesting. The reason there is a commission is due to the young folks that have been out here for the last 108 days planning actions, going to trainings and out here peacefully protesting for their human rights.

I hope that I`ll have the chance to talk to as many young people as possible to figure out what is the real issue and concerns that we have. And what is it that is holding us back from having the same human rights that other folks have.

We`re tired of being treated like we`re not human. We`re tired of just walking down our streets, driving and being pulled over and harassed by police officers. It has to stop. That`s why we`re out here. We`re going to continue to be out here either way if there`s an indictment or no indictment, we have to change. We cannot have another Michael Brown. We cannot have another VonDerrit Myers, we cannot have another Congene Powell (ph).

We are Live in Clayton, Missouri tonight. In just 30 minutes we are anticipating, we will hear an announcement from St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch. He we will be addressing the media in that building just behind me in the justice center here, here in the county seat in St. Louis County to announce whether the grand jury that has been working for several months now has returned any criminal indictment on officer Darren Wilson.

The eyes of the country, in fact, much of the world right now, on that building, on that podium. Don`t go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAYES: We are live here in Clayton, Missouri outside the justice center where in just a few moments we`ll be hearing from county prosecutor Bob McCulloch about whether the grand jury that has been impaneled here to investigate the shooting death of Michael Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson has returned any criminal indictments. Joining me, Trymaine Lee, my colleague from MSNBC.com has been down here since November 12.

There -- Harold, what do you think the effect of the last two or three weeks of how this process played out has been on people`s psyches here. There was this spate of leaks that happened and then it was any day, any day, any day rumors flying, rumor flying. I was hearing from people texting you back and forth, happening tomorrow. I heard from this person, everybody`s got an uncle or a cousin who works in some police department or works for the school district, that kind of -- and now we`ve come here. It`s 9:00 at night. A lot of people are asking a lot of questions about why now? What is this? What is this announcement supposed to do?

TRYMAINE LEE, MSNBC.COM: I think it`s been emotionally and psychologically draining for so many people, especially those who have been on the ground for so long. We`re talking about 105 days or so.

And so the idea that now there`s these leaks and then you have the assembly of the National Guard, and don`t be violent and -- but sustain and maintain the progress of the movement.

It`s all been so -- you talk to folks, they`re tired. So the last couple of days they`ve been trying to relax, because they know that once the announcement is made, now they`re going to kick in to high gear.

So, it`s been draining for folks, but now it`s kind of it`s game time.

HAYES: You know, it feels a little bit like -- I think the most cynical interpretation of some of the moves that have been made by some of the officials here is if you have a bottle of carbonated soda and you shake it up, right. You just sort of let it out as slowly as possible so you don`t get this explosion. And so a lot of people widely interpreted some of those leaks that we were seeing two or three weeks ago as kind of preparing the ground.

And then the National Guard and then all of this is sending these signals to people essentially without saying, look, there`s going to be a no indictment. And again, I have no idea what`s going to happen, as I think you have no idea, that people are interpreting a lot of these actions as basically officials preparing people for the fact that there will be no indictment so that there isn`t some massive, wrenching outrage of disappointment or surprise when that`s announced.

LEE: Now, to some degree, I think it`s kind of -- if that was the intention -- whether it was intention or not, it kind of worked. I mean, by prolonging this process and kind of letting that emotion kind wan a bit.

On the other hand, though, it seems to have been driving this divide even deeper. So folks who didn`t trust the system before really don`t have that trust now. And they believe all along that this was all building blocks leading to what some presume will be a non-indictment.

HAYES: Yeah, that issue of lack of trust, which you and I saw -- have been seeing firsthand here -- we saw it in August and we`re seeing it throughout. I mean, no one I`ve talked to on the ground here from the kind of community/protester side has found this process to be, in anyway reassuring or in anyway to repair some of the sense of alienation and frustration and anger they have about Michael Brown`s death, right.

The process to them -- I hear the phrase the fix is in. I`ve heard that, you know, a ton. That`s how a lot of people have perceived this.

LEE: Exactly. And that where it`s fueled so much of this, because they say we came out en masse in the beginning because an unarmed black boy was killed and he lay on the streets for four-and-a-half hours. And that`s where that initial fervor came from.

And so in response to their anger over the situation, then they were beaten back. And then you have the system, which they believe is piling on. And so here you are today which may presumably be a non-indictment.

Now, I`ve talked to some folks who are holding onto hope, because we don`t know they say perhaps the deliberation they`re taking may lead may lead to an indictment.

HAYES: Trymaine Lee, MSNBC.com. Stick around, right.

We, of course, do not know what will be the announcement from Bob McCulloch in just a little bit, but we are monitoring it closely. We are here live. You`re seeing protesters begin to assemble outside the Ferguson Police Department at this hour. That has become a rallying point for protesters in the last few weeks and even months.

There are a lot of folks here who have been training. You heard Rasheed just say earlier that there will be protests whether there is or is not an indictment because, in his words, this is bigger than the death of Michael Brown.

We are awaiting an announcement from Bob McCulloch and that grand jury about Officer Darren Wilson in just a few moments. And we have with us right now -- oh, we`re going to take a break and we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HAYES: All right.

Joining me now, we have Tef Poe who is an activist co-founder of Hand`s Up United. Ashley Yates, co-founder of Millennial Activists United.

Ashley, what is your mood right now? What are you expecting in just 20 minutes when we hear county prosecutor Bob McCulloch announcewhether the grand jury has returned an indictment.

ASHLEY YATES, COFOUNDER, MILLENIAL ACTIVISTS UNITED: Chris, I have absolutely no idea what we`re planning to announce. Everyone here is acting out the expectation that we`re going to see a gross injustice served. That is what has happened throughout this country every time that police brutality has occurred, every time the police have murdered an innocent civilian that is black, we have seen that the system has refused to hold them accountable, which is why you have seen the response that you`re seeing today and you`ve seen the response that you`ve seen for the last 100 days.

So we are anticipating a non-indictment. But I am one of those hopeful that (inaudible) they spoke of earlier in which I`m holding out a little hope for the system that they will actually do the right thing and announce that there is enough evidence to just take this trial, because that`s really what we`re waiting on is just them to say that there`s enough evidence to take this to trial.

HAYES: Tef, there`s been a lot of messages directed at protesters and activists such as yourself coming from a whole variety of officials here from County Executive Charlie Julie (ph) who was just standing by my side, Mayor Francis Slay of St. Louis, who we just had on, Governor Jay Nixon, how are you hearing those directives, those pleas and treaties and orders from officials about the nature of the protests that may ensue in the wake of this decision?

TEF POE, CO-FOUNDER HANDS UP UNITED: I mean, it`s too late to decide to jump on board and try to restore order. Order should have been restored when Mike Brown laid in the middle of the street for four-and-a-half hours and bled to death in front of his parents. I mean, it`s a true hypocrisy to wait until the very moment, to the dawn of all hell breaks loose to say that you want to lead.

Leading was a matter of stepping forth when the community clearly stated that we are wounded, we are hurt, that this is an issue of racial profiling.

I think the fact of the matter is, is that we`ve all been treated like imbeciles, as if our opinion is not valid, as if what many of the witnesses saw was not valid, as if this is -- we don`t have legitimate complaints.

And the truth is the fact of the matter, this would have never gone this far had they chose to step up and lead and be responsible. Everyone is playing hot potato with the responsibility of the issue. You don`t know if it`s Governor Jay Nixon calling the shots, you don`t know if it`s Bob McColluch calling the shots.

All of the sudden, Charlie Dooley (ph) isn`t even in office, now he`s trying to call the shots. Francis Slay has a few bodies on his hands thanks to Chief Dodson that he needs to take responsibility for as well.

I`m just a regular concerned citizen that felt an emotional attachment to the situation. I was outraged. I was hurt. I shedded tears and I responded in that manner. And I wished that they would do the same.

HAYES: What do you -- I should just clarify that you`re referring to shooting deaths by St. Louis officers of VonDerrit Myers and Kajieme Powell, both of which have happened over the past few months, Kajieme Powell and in just the past few months. Mike Brown in august, VonDerritt Myers a few weeks ago. Those were both men who were shot and killed by St. Louis Police Officers, both of those were ruled justified.

I just want to -- if folks don`t follow that.

Tef, can you explain to me what your personal plan of action is? What -- if in 17 minutes, Bob McCulloch grand jury found there was no reason to indict Darren Wilson and everybody goodnight and that`s it. What are you going to do?

POE: My personal plan of action is just to support the people, support my friends and family members that feel the way about this issue. I`m just here literally for a position of support.

YATES: We`re going to go out and we`re going to do the same thing we`ve been doing for 108 days, which is tell the system that this is not going away.

As long as we have to see our dead, black children lay out in the street and gunned down unarmed, we are going to make sure that they feel it as well. We`re going to make sure that this issue stays at the top of their list until we see some real accountability, until we see some real change.

We`re doing the same thing across 75 cities in America. This is not just Ferguson. And if they want to keep saying it`s Ferguson, take a look at all the 75 cities that are telling you we`re not going to stand for it.

Cleveland is toting an action right now for Tamir Rice. There`s a 12-year-old boy that was gunned down unarmed. This is a nationwide problem. So, we`re not going to go away until they address it as a nationwide issue. You cannot keep killing innocent black civilians. It just can`t happen.

HAYES: Do you feel that way, Ashley, even if an indictment is returned in just 15 minutes when we`re expecting an announcement? Do you feel that the work you`re talking about in this being bigger than Michael Brown`s death means that that movement that has being built here is going to continue even if there`s an indictment?

YATES: Absolutely.

Like I said, just here in St. Louis, since the killing of Michael Brown, we`ve seen Kajieme Powell who was unarmed gunned down, we`ve seen VonDerrit Myers who, by all accounts, was unarmed. They have yet to produce a gun that they said existed.

We have seen in Cleveland, Tanisha Anderson, an unarmed woman that was bashed and killed in Cleveland. This is like I said, this is definitely not going away. This didn`t start with Michael Brown and didn`t end with Michael Brown. But we are definitely going to make sure that we don`t have to see one more black citizen gunned down with unaccountability.

So, yes, indictment or not indictment, we are going to address this as a systemic issue that it is.

POE: And to coattail off of what Ashley is saying it`s time to take a real approach to racial profiling. It`s time to honestly look at racial profiling, attack it, and eradicate it, abolish it. It`s time to step up, take responsibility. If you`re a politician, step up. Jay Nixon, step up. Barack Obama, step up. It`s time.

HAYES: Tef Poe and Ashley Yates, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

YATES: Thank you.

HAYES: We are now joined by Daryl Parks. He is one of the attorneys for the Michael Brown family.

And Mr. Parks, has the Brown family been informed in either way about what they will be hearing in the next 15 minutes when Bob McCulloch makes this announcement?

DARYL PARKS, ATTORNEY: They have no been informed as to what they plan to do with this indictment. All they know is there is going to be an announcement and that`s it.

And you know, obviously, they have serious concerns about the process, but yet they`ve still continued to hold out that there may be hope that this grand jury will indict.

So, we all have to wait and see in 15 minutes what the prosecutor does. But they are of the opinion that there have been some serious, serious, serious concerns with the process that has been used in this grand jury situation. It certainly hadn`t been the typical grand jury process that you would see typically.

So hopefully, we pray and hope that it goes right. But whatever result we get will certainly be a result of the process that was used here.

HAYES: Is it your belief that Bob McCulloch essentially went into this not wanting an indictment and essentially constructing a process that would yield that result? Is that your belief? Is that the family`s belief?

PARKS: Yeah, I mean, they have strong concerns about, one, for example, his decision to just dump all the information from the grand jury. That`s not the process you use when you want to make sure that you get an indictment, you give all of the evidence that`s favorable to getting the indictment that would you know be written by the grand jury. You don`t give them everything even if the exculpatory evidence that would tend to prove that the person may have a defense or what have you, that`s not what the purpose of the grand jury is.

However, number two, though, is just -- you know, normally in the process like that when you`re trying to get an indictment, it`s rather clear to the grand jury that the prosecutor wants you to indict the person. They`re putting the information there because they believe they have what they need to indict and they need your blessing on it.

Well, we don`t have any indication that he`s done that yet. Hopefully, we`re wrong. We pray we`re wrong. Hopefully, he has been forceful before them and has given them enough evidence that led them to a point where they can indict.

We`ve always been of the opinion, Chris, that there`s ample, ample, ample evidence here for this grand jury to indict. And if he puts forth all the evidence that we are aware of and the public is aware of there`s no way that this grand jury should not come back with an indictment.

HAYES: If, in fact, there is no indictment, what legal remedies exist for Michael Brown`s family?

PARKS: Well, there`s several things. Number one, you already know that the Department of Justice civil rights division has an ongoing investigation into possible civil rights violations that may have resulted in Michael`s death. That`s number one.

Number two is obviously is a possibility of a civil suit for the wrongful death of Michael Brown, which is something that we are very intimately involved with in terms of how we -- moving forward, although it hasn`t been filed yet. That`s a big part of our purpose, a big part of why we have Dr. Boden (ph) do our own autopsy as well.

HAYES: Daryl Parks, attorney for the Michael Brown family. Thank you for your time tonight, sir.

PARKS: Thank you for having me, Chris.

HAYES: All right. Joining me now, my MSNBC colleague Craig Melvin who is onthe phone right now. He is at the Ferguson Police Department, that is that live shot you see there where folks have begun to assemble. They started getting there about an hour, hour-and-a-half ago.

And Craig, what is the seen like there?

CRAIG MELVIN, MSNBC CORRESPONDENT: Right now, Chris, I can tell you we`ve got about 25 Ferguson police officers. They are standing out front of the police department, but not -- they`re not donning the helmets that we came to see in the days after the shooting.

They`re not in riot gear. They`re standing. And you`ve probably got -- I`d estimate it again, you know, it`s tough from this vantage point. I`d say maybe 300, 400 folks who have come out, many of these people I`ve talked to, many of these protesters are obviously waiting on the verdict -- not the verdict, excuse me, awaiting on the grand jury decision to be announced.

A good portion of the street in front of the police department has been shut down because of the crowd. It`s been peaceful so far. There have been no arrests so far, but you`ve got lots of folks chanting, lots of signs. And that`s the scene right now.

But again right now the (inaudible) as everyone here, again, waiting for that decision to be read.

HAYES: And, Craig, from what I can tell from the live shot that we have right now, it looks like, actually, the police presence isrelatively minimal. Certainly, when you think about the ratio of protesters to police, it`s the inverse of the kind of ratios we saw in the first days of the protests down on West Florissant of Michael Brown`s death when there would be a handful of protesters and 50 or 60 police officers armed to the teeth in SWAT tactical gear and riot gear.

But we`re seeing a far less sort of aggressive police posture at this moment, is that correct?

MELVIN: That is correct. In fact, I`d say maybe 15 to 1, 15 protesters to 1 officer. I mean, there`s a natural barricade, there`s a fence that exists in front of the police station. They`ve got another barricade that`s been erected in front of that.

And you`ve gotten -- you know, you`ve got a handful of folks with megaphones who will periodically will go up to the fence and scream things at the officers, but that`s about it. In fact, I`d say right now, there`s a good 20, 25 feet between the officers and the protesters, at least -- yeah, a good 20, 25 feet. You`ll have to excuse me while I`m talking to you. I`m keeping my head on a swivel here.

I mean, it`s -- the crowd has continued to grow since we`ve arrived here maybe 10, 15 minutes ago.

This, of course, Chris, as you know, over the past few weeks, especially, this has been ground zero for the folks have gathered outside the police department every night, usually fairly small crowds. This is the largest crowd that I`ve seen since we`ve been here this time around.

And every night, there have been just a handful of arrests, typically unlawful assembly or refusing to get out of the streets, things like that. The protests heretofore, in front of the Ferguson Police Department have been nonviolent.

There was one incident four nights ago, the first time that we saw pepper spray used in awhile, but it was an isolated incident, nothing like that since.

I can tell you I`m standing next to one, two, three Amnesty International observers who are here and they said that they`ve got roughly a dozen folks here in front of the police station.

I`ll tell you else I see, Chris, is I see a lot of gas masks, a lot of folks who seem to have shown up prepared for whatever the night might bring?

We`ve just gotten some news. We just learned that Bob McCulloch, county prosecutor will, at the top of the hour, that`s just seven minutes from now, give a 20 minutes statement apparently and then take questions. That what we`ve just learned about the nature of the announcement of the Grand Jury`s finding in the shooting death of Michael Brown at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson

I want to bring Ari Melber who has been following the legal controversy of this closely.

And Ari, can you refresh our memory about what the standard is that grand juries need to find in order to indict? We know beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard for a conviction. What`s the standard that grand juries when presented with evidence have to find in order to move for an indictment?

ARI MELBER, MSNBC: yeah, that`s a great question. beyond a reasonable doubt being that highest standard for criminal law when you have a full trial that`s up here. This is not that case. You mentioned earlier in your discussion with a lawyer, a civil suit where you have a preponderance of the evidence, more likely than not50 percent.

This probable cause standard is even lower than that. This is the kind of standard that we use in the law when officers say they have probable cause to search your car, not because they know something bad is in it, but because they have some evidence, some articulable (ph) facts that something bad might be in it.

This is the standard that basically says the evidence provided suggests something bad may have happened, a crime may have occurred, typically one crime, maybe more than one. And thus, the grand jury in a case like this would be saying if they found probable cause of that, that that it`s worth a full trial. And as we all know innocent until proven guilty, no matter what we hear in five minutes if there were an indictment and any indictment that individual still innocent until proven guilty. There has just been a finding of probable cause that there should be a trial.

In this case, Chris, as we`ve discussed the charges we would be looking at and that we might hear about either way that the grand jury goes would be these murder and manslaughter charges here.

HAYES: Ari, when you put it that way -- I just want to hone in on that for a second -- the same standard for whether police officers search your car is the standard that`s at issue here? Like that phrase, probable cause, which is used in both contexts, that`s actually the same standard we`re talking about?

MELBER: Yeah, it`s basically the same standard. We should note, of course, that different -- we`re talking about state laws here and different states have different precedent. But it is.

If you`re trying to ballpark it, yes, it`s the same kind of standard.

And as you`ve mentioned on your show and you`ve reported before, Chris, that`s why sometimes you don`t need a grand jury, sometimes you simply have a probable cause hearing when a prosecutor takes charges to court, files a criminal complaint, brings someone to court based on the evidence. And sometimes the first thing a defense lawyer will do, then, is say well this should be thrown out on probable cause.

That`s the same kind of standard a judgment that would be made in that case by a judge in this instances by the grand jury. And what we know, as you reported just now, that we`re going to hear about 20 minutes, according to the prosecutor`s office, some sort of statement, some sort of information and offering about what happened and then we`re told, of course, this prosecutor will take questions.

But we certainly would expected either way and we don`t know theruling or the decision yet, but either way, we would expect questions about the standard and what those jurors decided.

HAYES: Ari Melber, thank you very much. You`re going to be staying throughout the night as we continue to cover this.

I`m back with my colleague, Trymaine Lee.

So we just learned that Bob McColluch is going to give a 20 minute statement, which strikes me as a long statement. And that`s just in three minutes now and then take questions. Your reaction to that?

LEE: You know, I don`t want to be presumptuous or dive into too much speculation, but it seems I guess a long statement.

HAYES: That was surprising to me. I was anticipating him to come up, him to make an announcement quickly and finish and walk out. I didn`t even think he would be taking questions.

LEE: But there may be a need for some extended explanation on how we arrived at this moment and where we are.

HAYES: Yeah, it sounds like whatever the actual finding of the grand jury is, given the fact that he`s giving a 20 minute statement there is going to be explanation. And I would imagine a defense of the process, because the process as you`ve heard from attorney Daryl Parks for the Mike Brown family, as you`ve been hearing from a lot of legal observers, as you`ve been hearing from protesters and folks here, that process has been incredibly -- people have viewed it very skeptically.

LEE: Right. And people are going to want answers. And people have been asking for transparency in this whole process the entire time. Every step along the way, it seemed that there was a fog in that transparency. You couldn`t really see in and around very well.

And here we are at this moment. and I guess we`re getting close.

HAYES: Yeah, we are, just to reset here. We`re about two minutes away from what we`re expecting to be a statement from Bob McCulloch, the county prosecutor after several months in which a grand jury has been hearing evidence in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black teenager at the hands of Darren Wilson, an officer with the Ferguson Police Department. They`ve been hearing all the evidence in the decision to Bob McColluch to present all of the evidence to them, to not ask for specific charges, to not just give them the evidence they would need to meet the probable cause standard to return indictment, which is the more common way in which a prosecutor would present evidence for a grand jury,.

He has, instead, taking a strange anomalous choice in providing him all of the evidence.

We are going to hear from him and what we are being told is a 20 minute statement, which I imagine will be an explanation and defense of that process. He will then take questions.

Right now, there are protesters who are already assembling at the Ferguson police department. That`s the live shot that you see that`s in Ferguson itself. We are in the other part of St. Louis County in the county seat of Clayton. It`s a very different demographic here in Clayton. It`s where the justice center is. It`s where Bob McColluch is about to address the cameras and give his statement. And we will be bringing that to you of course live. We will also have live reaction. We will be live tonight at 11:00 p.m. Live from here in St. Louis as everyone turns their eyes now to Bob McColluch, County Prosecutor for St. Louis County to announce whether the grand jury has returned a criminal indictment in the shooting of Michael Brown at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson. Don`t go anywhere.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.END

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